


Do we have an arrangement?

by aceoftwos



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Arranged Marriage, Humorous Narrator, Mistaken Identity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-03-09 22:45:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13491375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceoftwos/pseuds/aceoftwos
Summary: With war brewing in the near future, Ekoda decides to offer an alliance marriage to the neighbouring kingdom of Beika in hopes of gaining allies. One problem… The princess isn’t so keen on being married off. (Neither is the prince, but that comes later.)





	Do we have an arrangement?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rachello344](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachello344/gifts).



> i have a healthy amount of respect and an absurd amount of love for rachello and her works. and she really likes royalty aus and arranged marriage aus. and i’m shit at comments. and so here i am writing an au that i’ve never even thought about bc i wanted to give something back to someone who inspires me so much and makes me feel guilty about not writing so i write more now.

According to the peasantry, the monarchy is, as a whole… rather eccentric. Every ruler has their quirks, most resulting in ill-advised decisions that lend to the suffering of their subjects. From destroying all spinning wheels to installing outrageously high taxes, both of which led to separate and equally disastrous economic crashes, nothing good ever happens when the monarchy is involved.

It follows that the citizens of Beika were very content, indeed… It’s true that Queen Yukiko and King Yuusaku are no less crazy than any of the rulers that came before them. In fact, some people—many people—might say that they’re even crazier.

And they’d be right.

The reason for the general good cheer of the population is their son, Prince Shinichi, heir to the throne of Beika and… small business owner? That can’t be right. This… this is quite unorthodox. I’ve never heard of anything like it— _ahem_. Sorry. I let my professionalism slip away for a moment. Please, come and sit. Make yourself comfortable. Let me tell you the story of how Prince Shinichi ascended the throne and found true love, all without the traditional slaying of a dragon.

There’s no dragon in this story. (Which is a huge oversight, I admit.)

Our story begins, as all olden times love stories must, once upon a time in the kingdom of Ekoda—no, that is _not_ a typo, I do _not_ mean Beika—nineteen years ago…

**…**

In the palace, as the dark of night creeps across the sky, a baby tumbles out of the womb and into the world. Some distance away, just down the street in fact, another baby is being born. Hang on, make that two babies. Never mind them, though. I hesitate to say they aren’t important but, at the very least, they aren’t important to this story. Remember the first baby though, because _he_ is important.

His name is Kuroba Kaito.

Now, contrary to what you may be expecting, Kaito isn’t any sort of royalty. He’s born to Chikage and Toichi on a rare, cool night during the summer months, in the presence of King Ginzo and the young Princess Aoko.

This in itself isn’t significant. Despite serving within the palace walls, Chikage and Toichi have always been confidants of the royal family. As the King’s private jester and the late Queen’s lady-in-waiting, respectively, they were in a unique position to gather sensitive information and turn it over to their rulers without arousing suspicion.

Advise, comfort, console… Even eccentric rules need someone to lean on every once in a while.

It should come as no surprise that when Toichi died and Chikage disappeared in the middle of the night, leaving only a note behind, that Kaito doesn’t go hungry. No… He’s treated like a prince.

**…**

_I’m sorry, Ginzo. I don’t know how you dealt with the Queen’s death, but I can’t. I need some time. I’m not sure how much. I’m leaving to visit some friends, you know the ones. It’s selfish, I know, but please take care of Kaito while I’m gone. He doesn’t deserve to be left behind._

_All the best,  
Chikage _

_P.S. Make sure Kaito knows I love him. Always._

**…**

Kaito folds the note along years of well-worn creases until it’s a square of parchment just barely bigger than a thumbnail, one that fits neatly in the pouch hanging around his neck. He slips it under his shirt and continues to walk towards the palace at the same leisurely pace he’s been holding to all morning. It’s not his palace, not even in the loose sense that he can call the palace in Ekoda his, it’s home to the strangers that he would have known if things had turned out differently.

Queen Yukiko, King Yuusaku, and their son, Prince Shinichi. This isn’t how he imagined meeting them. He hadn’t imagined it. Meeting them, searching them out, was never the plan.

The only reason he’s here at all is because Aoko _begged_ him to come instead of her.

**...**

Just shy of a month ago, King Ginzo announced the need for an alliance with the kingdom of Beika, with the quickly growing likelihood of a war against the Crows, a group of ruthless and unscrupulous mercenaries from the shadow countries of the south.

Court was instantly buzzing. Not with fear, no... Excitement. An alliance almost always equals a wedding.

It had been ages since anything interesting happened in Ekoda and even longer since the court had been allowed to plan a party. The only major event in the past decade was the late Queen’s funeral, and no one had been much in the mood for celebration at the time.

For an alliance marriage, the Princess was the obvious choice. Queen Yukiko and King Yuusaku’s only child was their son, Prince Shinichi, and princes usually prefer to marry princesses. It wasn’t a given, of course, for there were a bounty of popular places to find a same sex lover, but it was usually a safe assumption to make. Especially when the subject in question was royalty and even _unintentionally_ implying that they might not be into the opposite gender could get you thrown in jail.

One teensy little problem... Aoko didn’t want to get married. Ever.

**...**

“No!” Pure fury raged in Aoko’s eyes. Kaito could see her hands shaking, behind her back and away from her father’s line of sight, but her voice was firm. Over the years, Kaito had watched her learn not to cry and scream, learn how to be heard. “I’m not getting married, especially not to some stranger.”

“I understand, sweetie, but it’s for the good of the countr—”

“No,” she repeated. “I’ve put up with overbearing bodyguards, boring visits to court, and endless lessons.”

“All traditional duties of an Ekodan princess.”

“All things I didn’t ask for or want to do,” she said softly. “I did it because I love you and I love this country, but I’m not going to sacrifice my future for it. I don’t want this, dad. I don’t want this and I won’t do it.”

So far, King Ginzo had kept his temper in check. Now, he thundered, “We need this alliance.”

“Find another way,” Aoko replied hotly.

“There’s no other away!” It sounded convincing, Kaito thought, but it wasn’t true. “Alliance marriages—”

“Are symbolic,” Kaito finished. Father and daughter turned to him. “The point is to join our two countries in a way that can’t be broken. I agree joining bloodlines helps, but it isn’t necessary. There’s no need for it, especially since we’re already on such friendly terms with Beika. There's nothing to cement.”

“Kaito- _kun_ , you don’t understand.”

“Why not? With all due respect, King,” Kaito said, unknowing echoing the soft tone and words of his father, “I’ve been raised alongside your daughter. We received identical lessons, down to courtly manners and governing. I do understand, and there is no need for an alliance marriage in this case.”

King Ginzo sent them both out of the room after that and Aoko had turned to him, a plan brewing behind her smile.

“Kaito, that’s it!”

“Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably a bad idea,” Kaito said. He knew he would likely go along with it, but it was better to at least appear as if he had some choice in the matter. Aoko grinned and latched onto his arm, pulling him in the direction of her quarters. He barely protested.

“The answer is _you_ , Kaito!”

“Me?”

“Yes, you!”

Kaito looked at her like she was crazy, because she probably was. And to think, it was usually _him_ that the court gossips called insane.

“Explain.”

“C’mon, you’re practically family at this point.” When Kaito continued to look at her blankly, Aoko rolled her eyes and said, with deliberate emphasis, “Practically my _brother_.”

“Oh. Oh, no. Aoko, that’ll never work.” Kaito attempted to back away from her. “They’ll never buy it!”

Indeed they didn’t. Luckily for Princess Aoko, and lucky for Kaito though he didn’t know it at the time, Queen Yukiko was quite aware of her son’s interest in men and decided to play along.

**Author's Note:**

> hey. if you liked the fic, drop a comment or come yell at me @ao2fics on tumblr! also, check out rachello’s fics because they're rad as shit!


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